


Precipice

by arobynsung



Series: King, Queen, Sorcerer, and Knight (and Priestess) [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Merlin AU, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, OT4, POV Character of Color, POV Female Character, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-26 19:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arobynsung/pseuds/arobynsung
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen thinks she can see how destiny wraps around them in coils.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Precipice

**Author's Note:**

> A sort of continuation from the previous fic in this series but from Gwen's POV. Merlin BBC canon events after S3 are ignored for the most part.

Gwen finds it difficult to concentrate at council today. Only the closest advisors to Arthur are at this meeting, going over matters of state before the general meeting later in the day. A small sigh escapes her and she gives up and allows her mind to wander where it has for the past few days. Lately there's been an itch under her skin, as if her very body can feel the winds changing and fate rearranging itself. She thinks that this must be what Merlin feels like, when he gets that faraway look right in the middle of a sentence he never comes back to. She swears that she can feel the destiny changing around them, and without questioning it she is sure that it is bending for them and not against them.  
  
 _It's going to be alright, everything is going to be alright. As long as..._ the thought is incomplete and she cannot grasp at its ending yet.  
  
Her eyes go to the men seated around her. Some part of her register's that Merlin is speaking, explaining to Arthur the whys and hows of some action the king is reluctant to approve. Closer to her, Gwen can feel Lancelot's eyes on her, always watching but keeping his distance. It took awhile, long enough, but Gwen has finally got him past his need to fall on his sword for her. Well, alright fine. Mostly got him past it. But at least he's stopped making decisions about them based on his misguided thoughts on what would be 'best for her'- though Gwen had to concede that it ensured she ended up with Arthur, so forgiveness was easy to find.  
  
She leans back in her seat and watches Arthur and Lancelot on either side of her. The discussion has turned to the upcoming war against Mercia and they are now discussing strategy for an upcoming battle. Gwen has to force her mind away from the knot in her stomach that forms when she thinks of her men in battle, grateful as she is that they have each other to protect. _The King and his First Knight._ Inseparable as they are in a fight against an enemy, these two seem the farthest apart most of the time. Torn by being too similar and at once too different. It's absurd how beautiful they are, heads together working out a military strategy. It evokes a thrill her, a thrill in places she shouldn't have thrills for more than one man, Queen and wife as she is now. But how can she not? She closes her eyes for a moment to collect herself and when she opens them again, Gwen thinks she can see how destiny wraps around them in coils, and delights in their combined perfection.  
  
Until of course, Arthur turns to Merlin. Then destiny seems to shout out aloud and joyous. How Gwen had ever missed these connections before she does not know (or maybe she has always seen, but never understood, until recently). It's clear as day. _The King and his Sorcerer_. The sheer depth of devotion between them. Its magnitude should be stifling, suffocating to a wife, but Gwen is past all that and has been for what feels like ages. In any case it didn't last long at all because this is Merlin, her best friend, who she's sure is a significant part of the reason she's queen right now. She considers how difficult it must have been for him to face their marriage and it just makes Gwen love Merlin more. One does not make a sacrifice like that, without a serious devotion to all involved. Gwen has never doubted Merlin's love for her and Arthur. Jealousy has no place here.  
  
Something catches her attention in the discussion and she turns from Merlin to ask a question of Lancelot, whose eyes glimmer and sparkle at the sound of his name from her lips. His gaze is intoxicating when he looks at her like that. She wonders if it is too easy for everyone else to see. That itch in her skin is present again and even as she asks her question, she can practically hear a voice whispering all the while, Lancelot and Guinevere, a scandal on the precipice. _The Knight and his Queen._ He listens to her, as always with rapt attention, as if there could not exist a greater purpose in this world than to give Gwen his full consideration. The focus is breathtaking and she struggles to pull back. It's always at these moments, when she fears that her intoxication might become too great that Arthur calls out to her. He smiles at them nowadays, amused at their obvious connection, no shade of past worries, and asks for her opinion on the proposed means.  
  
There are rumors about her at court, but Gwen makes her peace with them because she knows they are born out of a discontent with a peasant queen. Besides, if the court were to believed, she beds a different knight every night (not even the right knight- Gwaine is considered the most likely to seduce her away from Arthur). In any case, it is not the court's opinions Gwen is worried about. She faces Arthur with a small amount of guilt, though she can only find love in his eyes. It will take her time to trust that, and to believe that he has grown into the idea of hearts that can love equally and more than one person. After all, her own mind is still adjusting to knowing the truths of her own heart. She loves Lancelot, but she also loves Arthur, and Merlin was first to hold a place in her heart. All that love, what but goodness can come of it?  
  
At this thought, an icy tendril of fear works its way down her spine and she knows it for what it is, a warning. Gwen is suddenly certain that their love is something powerful enough that were it to break, more than just their hearts would shatter. She sees it so clearly in her mind that she can’t help but think that Morgana, wherever she is, sends her these visions. Gwen takes in and lets out a shuddering breath and returns her attention to matters at hand, a vow in her heart.


End file.
